C: Soooo, what about the name Isabella Martha-Catherine?
K: Ummm. No.
C: No? Like, definite, not-even-gonna-think-about-it no? You didn't even think about it!
K: Yeah. That is a definite no.
C: What's wrong with it?
K: I think you have to be Catholic to hyphenate a middle name like that.
C: LOL! You do not!!
K: How on earth did you come up with that combination anyway?
C: *insert long-winded explanation here*
K: Well, it's still a no.
***pause***
C: Well, you know...
K: We are not becoming Catholic!
C: Hear me out.
K: LOL! I am definitely gonna listen to this one.
C: Well, you know how I've always liked the symbolism/tradition that goes into the whole Catholic baby christening thing? The pomp and circumstance? The gorgeous christening gowns? That stuff? And now I like a name that you say is Catholic...
K: Uh-huh... I'm waiting.
C: Well, what if we just became short-term Catholics? We get the gorgeous christening, I get the hyphenated name... a few short months and wham, bam, thank you ma'am, we're back to being Unitarians. *bright smile*
K: You're nuts. Funny. But nuts.
C: So the name is still a no?
K: Definitely.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Amandaisms
One of Amanda's friends noticed my ant farm sitting in the window. We had a brief conversation about why there weren't any ants in it currently, culminating in me explaining that one of these days I was going to dig around in the yard to try to find a queen ant to put in my farm, and then I would add workers.
Amanda: Well, why don't you just leave an empty honeycomb in the yard; it will attract them, and they will want to move into it, and then catch them that way?
Me: A honeycomb?
A: Yeah. Well, not like the cereal, but a real honeycomb.
M: (trying not to lol at the cereal) A honeycomb? They aren't BEES, Amanda.
A: Oh!! Yeah... that's right. It's bees that do honey, not ants.
M: (still trying not to lol) Yep...
Amanda: Well, why don't you just leave an empty honeycomb in the yard; it will attract them, and they will want to move into it, and then catch them that way?
Me: A honeycomb?
A: Yeah. Well, not like the cereal, but a real honeycomb.
M: (trying not to lol at the cereal) A honeycomb? They aren't BEES, Amanda.
A: Oh!! Yeah... that's right. It's bees that do honey, not ants.
M: (still trying not to lol) Yep...
She *has* been socialized...
though I'm not sure you would know if you came to a party she hosted. After much prompting and encouragement, Amanda hosted her first teen party this weekend. She has had one friend at a time over to the spend the night a very few times, but never more than that. So imagine our surprise when out of the blue, she called us at work one day last week to let us know that she had invited her soccer team over to camp in the backyard this weekend, was that ok with us? We were so pleased that we decided we wouldn't have the talk *this time* about how she should ask us *before* she does the inviting. We didn't have anything planned, so it worked out to be a fine weekend anyway.
So the rest of the week, we encouraged her to think about what food and supplies she might want for the party, and we would take her on Friday to make her purchases. Knowing she wasn't used to hosting her *own* parties - though she certainly has experience vicariously through the various parties we have hosted - we told her to let us know if she needed any help thinking of things she might want or need. This earned us much eye rolling and many deep sighs, as she has made it abundantly clear that she thinks we plan and list things far too much. We didn't do much prodding, assuming she could figure things out for herself, and if not she could ask for help.
We made it to the store on Friday afternoon, hoping she has things figured out (no grocery list in sight). Kim dropped us at the door so she could go gas up. I had my own shopping to do, so I told her we'd split up. She dropped me like a hot potato and went flouncing through the door, while I got in line for a buggy. (Yes. A line. To get a damn shopping cart. Anyway...) A half a minute later she came slinking back, muttering "I guess I need a cart, huh?" The rest of the shopping trip was rather uneventful and she managed to stock up quite well on junk food. Kim and I each had a chance to save the day at the end of the shopping though, when I suggested she would need a bag of ice, since she would be keeping the drinks in a cooler in the yard, and Kim suggested she might want to get some cups since she picked out 2 liter drinks instead of individual ones, and she had not washed out any cups for her guests to use (we keep only a limited amount in our cabinets).
Saturday morning dawned bright and clear - looked like a great day to have a party. Kim and I got up and got our housework done and then started trying to get Amanda out of bed - at NOON. We periodically tried to get her out of bed the rest of the afternoon. Around 3:00, she finally managed it. She didn't want to be bothered with setting up the second tent, getting chairs for everyone, gathering firewood, or any of the other things Kim suggested should happen before the guests arrived. Around 5:30 she finally decided it would be a good time to *begin* cleaning her bathroom, which all the girls would use (and it had been several weeks since she last cleaned it), and her bedroom. At 5:45 she took a break to add ice to the cooler so the drinks could get chilled. At 5 after 6, the first guest arrived. A few minutes later the second guest arrived. Here is where the real fun began.
First friend arrives, arms laden with sleeping bag, pillow, and overnight bag. Amanda comes out to say and brief hello and then just walks away to finish cleaning her bathroom. Friend 1 follows behind and asks where she should put her things. Amanda, shrugging, says she doesn't know but she doesn't have to carry her things around *if* she can find someplace to put them. Overhearing the exchange, I suggest F1 could put her things in Amanda's room. Amanda says that will be fine and I head back to the living room. Amanda goes back to cleaning, leaving F1 wondering where the room is. Amanda tells her to get me to show her. F1 puts her things down and then asks Amanda what she should do. Amanda says, "I dunno. Whatever you want. I'm busy." I invite F1 to watch TV. Then Friend 2 shows up. Amanda, exasperated that her cleaning has been interrupted again, comes out to say hi. F2 asks what they're doing. Amanda says, "Well, you guys are just too early. I'm busy cleaning. You'll just have to watch TV or something." F2 says, "Oh, sorry. I thought you said come between 6-7." Amanda says, "I did. But it's only a little after 6. I figured everyone would know to come around 7."
Later, cleaning done, all guests present, they are headed out to the backyard. We ask if we should order the pizza for dinner. Amanda says to quit worrying about things, she'll let us know when they want pizza. 90 minutes later (!), and me starving, I make Kim go out to ask again if they were ready to order pizza. Amanda shoots the evil eye, but ALL the guests immediately spoke up with a very emphatic YES. Then, Kim notices that no one has a drink, so she tells Amanda to get drinks for everyone. This earns her another evil eye, but a very grateful nod from the other girls.
The rest of the evening proceeded more or less smoothly, and everyone *did* have a good time.
This morning we let them sleep undisturbed, until we noticed that *everyone* except Amanda had been up for at least half an hour. At that point, we told them to go ahead and wake her. She eventually came stumbling in and wondered what she should feed everyone for breakfast. We told her she should have thought of that when grocery shopping - we just had green smoothies for breakfast. Then Kim took pity on her and suggested they could walk to the convenience store (literally 2 minutes - or less - from our front door, not even a street to cross) and get some doughnuts or something. Amanda was agreeable to that idea, so I went to get them some money. I handed it over to Amanda, and earned a very surprised "Oh!" I asked if she didn't think that would be enough. She said, "No, it's *too* much just for me. She wasn't going to buy for everyone else." I told her YES, of course she was - they *were* her guests.
I was glad when everyone went home. All in all, I think it went pretty well - especially for a first try. But geez, we have definitely seen several big areas where she is majorly lacking in social graces. At least we know the things we need to work on now.
So the rest of the week, we encouraged her to think about what food and supplies she might want for the party, and we would take her on Friday to make her purchases. Knowing she wasn't used to hosting her *own* parties - though she certainly has experience vicariously through the various parties we have hosted - we told her to let us know if she needed any help thinking of things she might want or need. This earned us much eye rolling and many deep sighs, as she has made it abundantly clear that she thinks we plan and list things far too much. We didn't do much prodding, assuming she could figure things out for herself, and if not she could ask for help.
We made it to the store on Friday afternoon, hoping she has things figured out (no grocery list in sight). Kim dropped us at the door so she could go gas up. I had my own shopping to do, so I told her we'd split up. She dropped me like a hot potato and went flouncing through the door, while I got in line for a buggy. (Yes. A line. To get a damn shopping cart. Anyway...) A half a minute later she came slinking back, muttering "I guess I need a cart, huh?" The rest of the shopping trip was rather uneventful and she managed to stock up quite well on junk food. Kim and I each had a chance to save the day at the end of the shopping though, when I suggested she would need a bag of ice, since she would be keeping the drinks in a cooler in the yard, and Kim suggested she might want to get some cups since she picked out 2 liter drinks instead of individual ones, and she had not washed out any cups for her guests to use (we keep only a limited amount in our cabinets).
Saturday morning dawned bright and clear - looked like a great day to have a party. Kim and I got up and got our housework done and then started trying to get Amanda out of bed - at NOON. We periodically tried to get her out of bed the rest of the afternoon. Around 3:00, she finally managed it. She didn't want to be bothered with setting up the second tent, getting chairs for everyone, gathering firewood, or any of the other things Kim suggested should happen before the guests arrived. Around 5:30 she finally decided it would be a good time to *begin* cleaning her bathroom, which all the girls would use (and it had been several weeks since she last cleaned it), and her bedroom. At 5:45 she took a break to add ice to the cooler so the drinks could get chilled. At 5 after 6, the first guest arrived. A few minutes later the second guest arrived. Here is where the real fun began.
First friend arrives, arms laden with sleeping bag, pillow, and overnight bag. Amanda comes out to say and brief hello and then just walks away to finish cleaning her bathroom. Friend 1 follows behind and asks where she should put her things. Amanda, shrugging, says she doesn't know but she doesn't have to carry her things around *if* she can find someplace to put them. Overhearing the exchange, I suggest F1 could put her things in Amanda's room. Amanda says that will be fine and I head back to the living room. Amanda goes back to cleaning, leaving F1 wondering where the room is. Amanda tells her to get me to show her. F1 puts her things down and then asks Amanda what she should do. Amanda says, "I dunno. Whatever you want. I'm busy." I invite F1 to watch TV. Then Friend 2 shows up. Amanda, exasperated that her cleaning has been interrupted again, comes out to say hi. F2 asks what they're doing. Amanda says, "Well, you guys are just too early. I'm busy cleaning. You'll just have to watch TV or something." F2 says, "Oh, sorry. I thought you said come between 6-7." Amanda says, "I did. But it's only a little after 6. I figured everyone would know to come around 7."
Later, cleaning done, all guests present, they are headed out to the backyard. We ask if we should order the pizza for dinner. Amanda says to quit worrying about things, she'll let us know when they want pizza. 90 minutes later (!), and me starving, I make Kim go out to ask again if they were ready to order pizza. Amanda shoots the evil eye, but ALL the guests immediately spoke up with a very emphatic YES. Then, Kim notices that no one has a drink, so she tells Amanda to get drinks for everyone. This earns her another evil eye, but a very grateful nod from the other girls.
The rest of the evening proceeded more or less smoothly, and everyone *did* have a good time.
This morning we let them sleep undisturbed, until we noticed that *everyone* except Amanda had been up for at least half an hour. At that point, we told them to go ahead and wake her. She eventually came stumbling in and wondered what she should feed everyone for breakfast. We told her she should have thought of that when grocery shopping - we just had green smoothies for breakfast. Then Kim took pity on her and suggested they could walk to the convenience store (literally 2 minutes - or less - from our front door, not even a street to cross) and get some doughnuts or something. Amanda was agreeable to that idea, so I went to get them some money. I handed it over to Amanda, and earned a very surprised "Oh!" I asked if she didn't think that would be enough. She said, "No, it's *too* much just for me. She wasn't going to buy for everyone else." I told her YES, of course she was - they *were* her guests.
I was glad when everyone went home. All in all, I think it went pretty well - especially for a first try. But geez, we have definitely seen several big areas where she is majorly lacking in social graces. At least we know the things we need to work on now.
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